Upward acting door construction



l-l. H. oLsEN v UPWARD ACTING DOOR CONSTRUCTION Jan. 16, 1951 I5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 25, 1947 r lz- ILFfw/MI H. H. OLSEN UPWARD ACTING DOOR CONSTRUCTION Jan. 16, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 23, 1947l ,eff/wr Alg/v5 @wf/v Jan. 16, 1951 H. H. oLsEN UPWARD ACTTNC DoCR CONSTRUCTION .'5 Sheets-Sheet 5 N .Lm WH.

Filed July 23, 17947 ggg :Een :zr

Patented Jan. 16, 1951 UPWARD ACTING DQOR CONSTRUCTION Henry Hans Olsen, Detroit, Mich., assigner to Crawford Door Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application July 23, 1947, Serial No. 762,933

5 Claims. (Cl. 160-201)Y This invention relates to an upward acting closure assembly especially suitable for garage door installations and the like and specifically deals with an articulated upward acting door assembly which does not require head room above Y the door opening and is equipped with cable led January 31, 1947, entitled: Upward Acting Door Construction, now abandoned.

In the aforesaid parent application Serial No.

725,659, spring-impelled cables are guided around sheaves positioned closely adjacent the door opening and above the top of the closed door. The cables have a substantially straight upward pull on the door for counterbalancing the weight of the door. In accordance with the present invention, the cable guide sheaves are positioned inwardly from the door opening so that the cables will have an inward as well as an upward pull on` the door. The cable run between the guide sheaves and the bottom of the door is deflected by door-mounted cable guide brackets arranged to pull the cables in an out of the way position and provide a cable run substantially parallel with the lower portion of the door and a second cable run inclined from the -39 lower portion of the top section of the door to the guide sheaves. The top section of the door hasv the top edge thereof supported on a pair of horizontal tracks extending inwardly from the top of the door opening. These tracks can be positioned immediately beneath the ceiling of the building and the door does not require head ond pair of tracks for upward .and inward moven ment.

A feature of the invention resides in the mounting of the cable bracket on the top door section above the hinge axis between this section and the adjacent door section so that the cables will have an inward pull on the top door section tending to cock it away from closed position, thereuponinitiating opening movement of the door. The door is conveniently locked in closed position by means of a spring-pressed locking bolt on the top door section coactingwith a keeper iiXed on the building. Since thecables exertl an inward pull on the top door section, they are also eiective to prevent slamming of the door into closed position when the door is lowered. The desired snubbing action can be controlled by the position of the cable pick-up brackets relative to the hinge axis'between the door sections.

It is, then, an object of this invention to provide an upward acting door construction of the type disclosed in my parent application Serial No. 725,659 but equipped with cable pick-up brackets effective toinitiate opening movement of the door and to prevent slamming of the door into closed position.

Another object of the invention is to provide an upward acting door assembly which does not require head room above the door opening and which has spring-impelled door counterbalancing cables deliected by door-carried guides to produce the desired force components on the door.

`Another object of the invention is to provide a cable-impelled closure assembly with cable guide brackets which hold the cables in an out of the way position.

A specic object of the invention is to provide a no head room upward acting closure assembly with spring-impelled counterbalancing Ycables and cable guide brackets on the closure so arranged as to deflect the cables into angled runs having desired force components on the closure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garage door or the like composed of hingedtogether sections and having cable pick-up brackets on the top section arranged relative to the hinge axis between this section and its adjacent section so that cables passed thereover will prevent slamming of the top section into closed' position.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide a garage door of the articulated type wherein the top door section has the top edge thereof mounted for straight inward movement on a iirst pair of horizontal tracks and wherein the other door sections are mounted for movement on a second pair of tracks while the weight of the door is counterbalanced by spring-imf pelled cables so directed as toexert an inward pull on the top door section for initiating opening movement of the door and for resisting slamming of the door into closed position.

Other and further objects oi the invention will 3 be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheets of drawings which, by way of a preferred example only, illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure l is an inside broken elevational View of the doortassembly of this invention showingfthe door in closed position.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a view similar tdigure 2 but illustrating three positions of the door as it moves from the closed position of Figure `.2 to the fully opened position.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional View taken along the line V-V of z Figure'l.

AlFigure-6 is a fragmentary top planv View along the line VL--VI' of Figure 2.

Figure' 7 is a fragmentary somewhat diagrammatic side elevational view illustrating the snubbing'action onthe door as it is. moved to closed position.

As shown on the drawings:

n'Figure'i the reference numeral i@ designates a portion of a building, such as a garage, having a doorway. l I dened .by a top lintel l2, side door jainbs` 13,313 landa'floor i4. The` door jainbs H2, asbest vshown in Figure 4, carry weatherstrips such as: i5. projecting into the doorway li and a doorv i5 is sized to close the .doorway i! between the 'door jambs i3 so that its outer face will abut the weather'strips i5. The upperfedge of .the door has its outer-iace'abut, the-inner. iaceof the lintel .12,.or alternately, a weatherstrip carried. by the lintel.

'.'The door I. is preferably.composed of two hinged together sectionsor` panels including a top sectinn,liiaanda bottom section [6b connected in 'articulate` relation by .hinges 11,' I'i.

.The building; lil has aceiling iswhich, Vin accordance.:.withv ,this invention, need not be; materially higher than the top ofi the doorway, to accommodatefull voperation .of the door.

Twoisets of tracksare provided for the-door including arst-set composed -oihorizontal tracks i9, le lyingclose to fthe ceiling laand suspended at theirrear -ends ion ceiling-carried brackets 2i?. The frontY ends of `these :horizontal tracks i9 are attachedto the door-jambs I3 by means of, brackets 2l. Rollers-22 are'mounted in the tracks Iii andfhave axles 23 projecting laterally'irorn brackets 24rat the upper corners of the door section ita. The .brackets'k asshown in yFigure l, are :secured-on the inner face of thedoor section. Ifia and havev flanges overlying Vthe side edges of the section so that the axles 23 projectlaterally from thesegside edges. 'The rollers. mount the top edge ofY the'upper'door section ita for movement along the horizontal vtracks I9.

The .seconclset of tracks include tracksY 25,' 25 eachwitha'veritical leg-.portion 25a, a horizontal legportion 2.ib,.and a curved connecting portion 25o. The vertical-portion25d-of each track 25 is mountedfon aidoorjamb i@ by meansoi' brackets 26; which: carrythe track. portion along Vthe inner face. of the door jarnb. Vlhe horizontal track sections '25122 are suspended underv the horizontal tracks is byineans of brackets 2'?. at the rear ends ofthe portionsoand byV means of gussetplates 'ib have brackets 36 secured thereon with flanges 23 depending from the tracks i9 to partially overlie the curved track portion 25o and the inner end of the horizontal portion 25h. As shown in Figure 2, the portion 25o can be separate from the portion 25C and joined therewith by the gusset plate 28 which has rivets or pins 2Q extending into both portions. The track portion 25h, as best shown in Figure 1, is directly aligned beneath the horizontal tracks i9.

The lower corners of the bottom door section ,extending `overthefside edges oi the door and carrying axles. 3l (Figure 4) on which rollers 32 are-mounted. The rollers 32 ride in the-second .set-eftracks 25. These brackets 30 also have flanges 3Go; extending inwardly of the tracks 25 and-equlipped-With cable anchors 33 beyond the tracks 2.5.

The hinges i? for the door sections 16a and Ib include overlapping leaves on the side edges of the doorrjoined ltogether by axlesjgdiorrrollers 35 which ride in the-tracks`25. These axles 34 thus form the turning axis for the doorsections.

The rear endsof the horizontal tracks i9Y .carry notohedstripsi which extendinspaced parallelrelation A outwarilly.from the outerA faces of the,v tracks to` receivetha rearends of coil springs These springs' i'i have the end yturns thereof telesooped Over,thestripsSiv and Selectivelyf-anclioredin ,a notch thereofso that the .tension of the springs can baadfusted.

The iront ends of.4 thesprings 3l are connected toclevises 33. Grooved guide sheaves 39', ,areA rotatably mountedonpins :taler thefclevises 3S. The

'Y guide sheaves 39 are thus spring tensioned by. .the

springsr Si `which: .tend to pull vthem toward the rear ends .of the tracks iii.

r-ls best shown in, FigureG, -eachf gusset pla/.te 28 has an- .oiset portion `23a outwardly from the track iii and carrying apin 4| on-whichia grooved slieave orroller i2-is.rotatablymounted. The sheaves i2 arethus mounted'ionrotatienabout fixed axes provided by. thegfpinsflil and arepositioned at the sides of the tracks la in spaced relation inwardlyfrom the deorwayj i I.

lA cable; 43 isprovidedet .each side of theedoor and-has one end thereoff secured to an anchor;33. Tzhe `cables are trained- .over the .sheayesiz and around 4the sheaves 39 with their other-endsbeing anchored at 4d. in the oiiset portionsoi the; gusset plates. 28.

`With the door inthe closed position of Figure 2, the cable ilwould. normally extend along an inclined.- pathf'f-rom the-anchor 33 Vtoi the sheave d2. In accordance with this invention, however, acable pick-up bracketll is ixedly vmounted on the .inner face of the top door section 16a near the bottom edge thereof4 andV projects laterally beyond: the side-edgaof' the-doorto overlie the cable 43. iiibra'cket 45 is provided -for each cable @aand-as :best shownin-'Figure 5,- `each bracket 45 has a-leg portion 45a -secured totheinner yface of Ithe door section -i 6a by means of screwsl 46 and a U-'shaped portion 45h extending around the track' -25 VVandy terminating in-a recessedV lip` 45o receiving ltheY cable 43 -in Itherecess thereof. The lip 45o of the bracket holds the cable 43 in alignment with the side edge of the door so Athat when the. door is in closed position the cablehas asubstantially vertical run'irom the anchor 33 to the bracket 45- and an inclined run from the bracket 45 toi-thesheave 42.

`As best showninFigure. 1, the brackets 445` are positioned*` slightly 'above-theaxlesJ 34 4forming the turning axis/for the door sections Isa and 1Gb. Since thespring-impelled sheaves 39 tend to pull the cable rearwardly over the sheaves 42, the cable tends to raise the door in the tracks 25.

This raising action, however, cannot take place until the upper door section Ilia is moved in; wardly from a deadcenter position where the rollers Z2are directly above the rollers 35. In other words, a straight lifting action on the door will be resisted by the rollers 22 which Will abut the top anges of the tracks I9. Therefore, in order to open the door, the top door section I6a must be moved out of vertical alignment with the bottom section ISb and this movement can only occur by moving the rollers 22 rearwardly in the tracks I9. When the door section Ilia is cocked or tilted relative to the section |619, an upward pull on the section l,Iib will raise the both sections while increasing the angle of tilt between the sections as illustrated in the various positions of the door shown in Figure 3.

assenze :spring-pressed bolt 41 on the inner face of the door section lGa at the upper edge thereof for projecting above this upper edge into a keeper 48 on the ceiling of the building, The bolt 41 2o The door thus initially moves from the solid line poi sition of Figure 2 to the dotted position of Figure 3 with the section 1Gb tilted slightly relative to the section l 6a. It will be noted that this tilting of the section i641 requires considerable inward movement of the top portion of the section, but the bottom door section IEb does not appreciably raise. As the door continues to move upward to the solid line position of Figure 3, the upper section 16a assumes a substantially-horizontal position with the rollers 22A moving 'rearwardly in the tracks I9 and the rollers 35 moving around the curved portion 25e oi the tracks 25 while the rollers 32 rise to the upper ends of the vertical portions 25a of these tracks; The door continues to rise and move rearwardly to the dot-dash line position also shown in Fig- K ure'B, where the bottom edge of the section I6b is immediately below the sheave 42 and the top edge of the section I6a is at the rear of the horizontal tracks i9. 'f

The brackets of this invention, as best illustrated in Figure 7, are effective to have the cables 43 produce an initial inward pulling action on the door section lea since the brackets are above the tilting axis of the door section 16a provided by the axles 34 thereby providing short lever arms perpendicular to the tilting axis of the door section and between the axis and the brackets 45. This inward pulling action tends to cock the door section Ilia relative to the door section |6b so that the counterbalancing springs 31 will be effective to pull the cables 43 for raising the door to its open position.

Conversely, when the door is pulled from anl open position downwardly to its closed vertical position, there will be a resulting inward force tending to snub movement of the door section iSd into vertical alignment with the section l6b, and this snubbing action prevents slamming of the door section Mia into 'its closed position. Thus, as illustrated by the arrows in Figure '1, when the door section is pulled downwardly as indicated by the arrow A, the door section 16a must move in the direction indicated by the arrow B, but, at the same time, movement in the direction B is opposed by a small component of force in the direction of the arrow C. The proportion of this force relative to the total spring load can overhead position. Movement beyond full over- ,head position is snubbed by virtue of the cable anchor 33 passing beyond alignment with the sheave 42 necessitating elongation of the spring 31. When the door is pulled downwardly from Vits open position, the springs 31 coact with the brackets 45 tohave an inward pull on the door section Ilia so that it will not slam into closed position.

From theabove descriptions it will be evident that the invention provides an upward acting counterbalanced closure construction whichl is automatically snubbed against slamming when closed,`and is automatically released to an open ing 'position when unlocked.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of` construction may be varied through a wide range without'departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1.- An upward acting door construction comprising a pair of hinged-together door sections, rollers mounted on the sides of said sections, tracks-carrying said rollers for guiding the sections between a closed vertical position and an open overhead horizontal position, guide sheaves xedly positioned inwardly of the closed position "of the upper end of the door, spring-tensioned cables trained over saidsheaves and anchored at their lower ends to the lower portion of the bottom door section, the spring tension on said cables tending to hold said cables in inwardly inclined straight runs between said sheaves and said anchoring points, and cable brackets mounted on the upper door section adjacent said hinged connection and having a cable restraining portion cooperating with the, otherwise straight runs of said cable to divert the same and simultaneously to impose an inwardly biasing force on said top section to direct the upper edge of the same inwardly along said horizontal tracks as the door is moved into open position and to restrain for- Ward movement of said upper edge as said door be adjusted by varying the spacial relation of the brackets 45 from the turning axis of the door sections on the axles 34.

In order to lock the door I6 in closed vertical position, it is merely necessary to provide a is moved into closed position.

2. An upward acting door assembly comprising a pair of horizontal tracks, an additional pair of tracks underlying saidhorizontal tracks and including vertical legs, horizontal legs, and curved portions connecting said legs, an articulated door having the upper section thereof mounted for 

